News

Inspiring Shakespeare

Plagiarism software has infiltrated universities around the globe; however, "two writers have discovered an unpublished manuscript they believe [Shakespeare] consulted to write 'King Lear,' 'Macbeth,' 'Richard III,' 'Henry V' and seven other plays." One of the writers explains: "'People don’t realize how rare these words actually are...And he keeps hitting word after word. It’s like a lottery ticket. It’s easy to get one number out of six, but not to get every number.'"

To further elaborate on the rarity of these words, the writer "ran phrases through the database Early English Books Online, which contains 17 million pages from nearly every work published in English between 1473 and 1700. He found that almost no other works contained the same words in passages of the same length. Some words are especially rare; 'trundle-tail' appears in only one other work before 1623."

While Shakespeare's influences have been studied for decades, this electronic form of research brings about a potential new light in understanding writers of our past. 

The Alcatraz Conundrum

Alcatraz inmates, who were believed to have died in their tumultuous escape while attempting to swim across freezing waters, wrote a letter to the San Francisco Police Department in 2013. This letter officially surfaced this past week, leading many to wonder of its validity. If the brothers and their accomplice were still alive today, their ages would range between 85-90. 

Syrian Chemical Warfare

As many have seen over the past few days, chemical warfare is becoming an increasing threat from the Assad regime in Syria. "The United States said Tuesday that it has observed Syrian chemical warfare personnel visiting known production facilities, suggesting that President Bashar al-Assad’s government is preparing fresh strikes on the rebel-held north of the country.  The White House warned late Monday that the Assad government would pay a 'heavy price' for any such strikes, indicating publicly for the first time that it believes the Assad government is capable of launching new chemical attacks." Yesterday U.S. military struck a Syrian airbase after their use of sarin in the northern rebel-held portion of the country, killing many civilians and hospitalizing even more. Sarin is a colorless, odorless gas that acts a nerve agent and is extremely potent. The large amount of remaining inventory of this chemical was considered by a European official to be "one of the worst-kept secrets in international diplomacy." Governments worldwide continue to monitor the Assad and many are forming synergistic strategies for the road ahead.  

Islamic State Leader Possibly Taken Down

Russia believes airstrikes may have taken down the Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, when striking a meeting of Islamic State leaders on May 28th. Now two weeks later, this news has officially been released with no explanation to the delay thus far. The reasoning behind the uncertainty is if Mr. Baghdadi, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, was actually in attendance to this meeting. Russian intelligence is still working to investigate if the airstrikes did indeed take down the leader; yet, they've cautioned that the Islamic State could still survive -  “Examples of such actions to destroy or ‘behead’ a terrorist group have always been presented with great enthusiasm...However, history shows that the fighting capacity of these structures was restored.”

Putting North Korea in "Full Court Press"

Dennis Rodman, former NBA player, is at it once again with another trip to North Korea; this one being the first during the new presidency. When questioned about any discussions with President Trump prior to his travel, Rodman stated, "Well, I'm pretty sure he's pretty much happy with the fact that I'm over here trying to accomplish something that we both need." However, Rodman didn't enlist specifics on his goals of his trip and government officials have said he's traveling as a private citizen. "Rodman tweeted that his trip was being sponsored by Potcoin, one of a growing number of cybercurrencies used to buy and sell marijuana in state-regulated markets." Despite discussions of North Korea ousting Amsterdam in pot tourism, the country still considers it a controlled substance to the likes of heroine and cocaine and "likely could not expect leniency if the country's drug laws were violated". Rodman has been criticized in the past for not using his influence in a country like this and only time will tell if this round will be any different. 

RESPECT THE POSITION

A group of Notre Dame students recently walked out during Vice President Mike Pence's commencement address at his Alma Mater. This outrages me; at the minimum, be respectful of the man's position. As many know, I'm a business driven republican who has his fair share of opinions, but in 1997, I had the fortunate opportunity to hear President Bill Clinton speak and even spend five minutes talking to him after his event. It was a highlight of my life! I may not have voted for him (I was too young), but I still respected his position enough to listen to him. Sometimes sitting on your hands is harder than throwing them up in protest, but find sound reasoning worth doing so. Do we as millennials really want to be known as the generation that, when we didn't get our way or our participation trophy, we protested? 

Respect the position and find the positive.

North Korea Bought Time with Letter & Fires Test Missile

Did I call it? (Referencing previous post). North Korea fired a test missile early Sunday morning that soared around 30 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan. Although not posing a direct threat to the United States, millions of lives remain at risk should an all out attack prevail. President Trump seems to understand the weight of the situation citing that "North Korea may be more important than trade" in discussion of China's continued assistance to the North via their trade relations. However, our government needs to act quickly before anyone gets hurt.

North Korea Changes Up Message Medium

What a rare occasion - North Korea sent a letter to Congress calling recent US sanctions a "heinous act against humanity". For the first time in quite awhile, the country chose to use words rather than test fires to convey a message. However, I bet they are just using this as a distraction to buy time for something...